June 16, 2025 • 22 mins
Feeling the pressure to get ahead on your back-to-school teacher prep tasks, but also craving a restful summer? In this episode, we’re sharing 20 simple “TV tasks” you can do from the comfort of your couch to ease into school mode without the stress. From organizing digital files to prepping small gifts and backup schedules, these light-lift tasks help you feel productive without sacrificing your downtime.
Prefer to read? Grab the episode transcript and resources in the show notes here: https://www.secondstorywindow.net/podcast/back-to-school-teacher-prep-tasks/
Resources:
- Freebie: End of Year Roadmap
- Readiness Checklists
- Wishing Star Printable
- @Teacherpodcastrecs on Instagram
- The Holiday Headstart Podcast
- Seed Probiotic
- Hero Sunscreen
- Join the Teacher Approved Club!
- Connect with us on Instagram @2ndstorywindow.
- Shop our teacher-approved resources.
- Join our Facebook group, Teacher Approved
- Leave your review on Apple Podcasts!
Related Episodes to Enjoy:
- Episode 196, The 3 Step Plan to Park Those School Thoughts and Enjoy Your Summer Break
- Episode 197, A Teacher Summer Self Care and Recovery Plan That Doesn’t Feel Like Work
- Episode 199, Time, Tech, & Tasks: The 3 Boundaries That Save Teacher Summers
Mentioned in this episode:
The July Secret: How Smart Teachers Use Summer to Start Strong, Not Stressed. Join us for a free training where we'll show you how to use July strategically so you can feel prepared for back-to-school without the guilt or overwhelm. Sign up at https://secondstorywindow.net/july
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Heidi (00:00):
This is episode 201 of Teacher Approved.
You're listening to TeacherApproved, the podcast helping
educators elevate what mattersand simplify the rest. I'm
Heidi.
Emily (00:13):
And I'm Emily. We're the creators behind Second Story
Window, where we give researchbased and teacher approved
strategies that make teachingless stressful and more
effective. You can check out theshow notes and resources from
each episode atsecondstorywindow.net.
Heidi (00:28):
We're so glad you're tuning in today. Let's get to
the show.
Emily (00:36):
Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today's
episode, we have 20 simple tasksthat you can get done from the
comfort of your couch, and we'resharing a teacher approved tip
for creating back to schoolsuccess. But first, it's time
for try it tomorrow, a favoritequick win that you can try in
your life right away.
Heidi (00:54):
Our try it tomorrow for last week was to write your
summer no list. This is a listof all of the things that you
are not going to do in thesummer, no guilt, no working on
weekends, no redoing your classdecor. This is your to don't
list, kind of, maybe. But thisweek, our suggestion is to make
a summer yes list, or maybe yourmust do list.
Emily (01:16):
So before you get too far into your summer break, make a
short list of five things you dowant to say yes to this summer.
Think rest, fun, connection.Maybe it's yes to leaving my
phone in the other room duringdinner, or Yes to reading a book
just because I want to, or Yesto saying no without guilt.
Heidi (01:34):
Your yes list becomes a little guide post. It reminds
you that boundaries aren't justabout saying no, they're also
about saying yes to what mattersmost. Put it on your fridge or
stick it in your notes app, oryou could even take a screenshot
and make it the home screen foryour phone. Do whatever makes it
feel real and visible.
Emily (01:51):
This simple shift can help you make more intentional
choices this summer, even ifyour calendar is already filling
up.
Heidi (01:58):
If you like this idea or anything else we share here on
the podcast, would you take asecond and give us a five star
rating? Ratings and reviews areone way that new listeners find
us. So every rating and reviewreally is a huge help to us.
Emily (02:11):
Well, over the years, we have really created an extensive
library of back to schoolproducts. So to help you find
the tools that will make thestart of the new year easier,
today we are spotlighting one ofthose back to school products,
which is our back to schoolreadiness checklists, which is a
new one from last year. Heidi,can you tell us more about them?
Heidi (02:29):
Yes, I'd love to, because I love this so much. If you used
our end of year roadmap, this isthe same idea, only you know,
for the other end of the year.Instead of wrapping up, we are
launching the new year andhelping you get ready for the
most successful year yet. Sothere are lots of different
checklists to help you preparein the six areas of readiness.
(02:52):
So we have thought through somany things, and we have added a
bunch of new lists this year.It's all in Google Sheets, so
it's all editable, and you canaccess it anywhere you are. If
you're in the middle of thestore and like, oh shoot, what
did I need to get at the craftstore, you can pull it up. It's
right there. It's so handy. I'mso excited about this, and I
think teachers are gonna loveit.
Emily (03:09):
And if you don't remember from last year, the six areas of
readiness are that you need tohave your classroom ready, your
supplies ready, your proceduresready, your welcome ready, your
first day ready, and yourselfready.
Heidi (03:21):
Oh, no big deal. Easy peasy.
Emily (03:23):
No big deal. That's why we need 34 checklists to meet
all of those areas. So if youwant help staying on top of your
to do list in any of thoseareas, the back to school
readiness checklists are madefor you, and we'll put a link to
those in the show notes.
Heidi (03:39):
Okay, teacher friends. We might not know a lot about you,
but we can make a pretty safebet that you are tired right
now.
Emily (03:48):
Yeah, being a teacher in June is a lot like being a
balloon with a leak and you'rejust slowly sinking lower and
lower and lower.
Heidi (03:56):
You know what? Good for you. You deserve to spend some
time crashed on the couch orcurled up with a book. You have
spent nine months giving yourwhole self to an impossible job.
You are due for a little R andR.
Emily (04:09):
But we want to make sure we're spending this downtime
recovering and not just driftinglike that sinking balloon. So go
back to Episode 197 where webreak down the types of rest you
might need.
Heidi (04:21):
And we promise that that topic is not as dry as it
sounds, and if you listen, youwill come away with a
restorative plan for meetingyour summer needs.
Emily (04:30):
But unfortunately, just because you don't get paid for
your time off doesn't mean thereisn't work to do and that there
aren't work tasks that need yourattention.
Heidi (04:39):
So how do we manage the work tasks that are waiting for
us without losing our summerdowntime? Well, we need
boundaries.
Emily (04:47):
So check out episode 199 if you want some guidance for
how to set boundaries aroundyour summer work so that you can
get some things done withoutlosing your whole summer to back
to school prep, which is a biggoal around here.
Heidi (05:00):
One of the work boundaries that you might want
to set is around time. Setspecific times when you'll
tackle work projects and, moreimportantly, set times when you
won't. This lets you enjoysummer without guilt and without
pressure.
Emily (05:12):
Now, this won't be for everyone, but one of my favorite
times to get a little work doneis when I'm relaxing on the
couch. I want to be clear thatrest on its own is entirely
productive. You do not need tojustify taking a break by adding
work to your relaxation time.However, something I find
relaxing is knocking a task offmy to do list. So why not
(05:33):
combine the best of both worldswith doing something easy while
I take it easy.
Heidi (05:38):
We call these types of tasks TV tasks. A TV task is
anything that you can do on yourcouch without having to stress
too much. You don't need a tonof materials. You probably just
need your phone or your laptop.
Emily (05:49):
So the key to making TV task time useful is to make a
list of tasks ahead of time thatyou can do while you kick back.
Your tired self doesn't have thebrain power to create a list of
ideas and go looking forsomething to do, so you can help
that tired self out by jottingdown some ideas now.
Heidi (06:06):
So what makes a task a good TV task? Well, anything
that doesn't require too muchfocus or too many materials is
ideal. Kind of think of it likeif it's something you can do
with real housewives or survivoron in the background, you know
it's a good TV task.
Emily (06:21):
To help you kick off your own TV task list, we're sharing
20 simple ideas that might helpyou get a bit ahead without
adding to your stress. So Heidi,kick us off with our first TV
task.
Heidi (06:31):
Well, let's start by organizing our ideas. If you
have a bunch of Pinterestboards, or you have bookmarked
ideas on Instagram or Tiktok,take some time to revisit those
ideas. There's probably a fewthings there that don't interest
you anymore.
Emily (06:44):
There's probably even a few things that you can't even
remember why you saved them inthe first place. So just delete
that content now, so you canmore easily find the ideas you
do want to remember.
Heidi (06:54):
Another organization task is to organize your digital
files. If you have got stuffsaved all over the place, try
corralling that content into anested system. Maybe you have a
large file for each term, andthen within the term, you break
it down into smaller files forsubjects, and then units, weeks,
and then down to individuallessons.
Emily (07:14):
Think of it as a nesting doll situation with large
categories being broken downinto smaller groups until you
know exactly where to go to findthe content for teaching your
third geometry lesson onmeasuring angles without having
to go search for it.
Heidi (07:28):
And while you're organizing your files, go ahead
and delete anything you don'tneed anymore. If you're worried
about losing something that youmight want to reference later,
you could set up a separate filefor just in case content or I
might want this somedaymaterials.
Emily (07:42):
Since we're on the decluttering track, let's clean
out that email. You do not needto keep that reminder about
Field Day anymore. Think of itas liberating yourself from a
bunch of old expectations.
Heidi (07:53):
And how about another easy digital task? If right now
you don't want to have to make abunch of decisions from your
couch, here is just a low mentaleffort task. Gather all of your
passwords in one place. Makesure you're storing them
someplace secure but alsoaccessible. You're not going to
be very happy with yourself ifyou know down the road, you have
to track down a password to beable to find your passwords.
Emily (08:14):
Yeah, that's how I got locked out of LastPass. I swear
I have it right too. I thinkLastPass is possessed. Well,
there are five TV tasks to getyou started, but we've got
plenty more to go. If youhaven't already, definitely
check out the TV show Traders onpeacock. That is the TV part of
this TV task. The task part ismaybe a little less fun, but
(08:36):
still important. Clean up yourteacher website, your canvas or
your other learning managementsystem.
Heidi (08:42):
Yes, that is less fun than Traders and way less fun
than Alan Cumming's crazycostumes, but when your LMS is
happily decluttered, you canstart on something more
interesting, like searchingSpotify for kid friendly
playlists.
Emily (08:55):
We have a few posted on Spotify if you want a starting
point. Search for TeacherApproved, and then select
playlist. All of our playlistsstart with Teacher Approved, so
you know it's ours. We've gotkid friendly pop, quiet
background music, and even a funromance free Valentine's Day
playlist. And if there's aplaylist you'd like for your
classroom but can't findanywhere, let us know, because
(09:17):
Heidi loves to make them.
Heidi (09:19):
I really do like making playlists. I don't know what it
Emily (09:22):
Could be your side hustle?
is.
Heidi (09:23):
Yes, somebody pay me for it. I'm doing it for free these
days. But besides audioplaylists, you can make video
playlists from your couch too.You can look for videos that fit
with specific topics or funbrain break videos. You could
put together a playlist forvideos for inside recess or
something that you might want tosave for a sub.
Emily (09:43):
Yeah, it's always nice to have something engaging,
educational and low prep thatyou can leave for a sub. And
it's much easier to look forthis stuff now than when you're
doubled over with foodpoisoning. Just, you know, ask
me how I know that.
Heidi (09:54):
Oh, that's a rough one. You can also add videos to your
time filler activity kit. You.Having a bunch of activities
already picked out to fill a fewrandom minutes is a lifesaver.
When the guest speaker is lateor your math lesson ends 20
minutes early, you can easilyturn to your list of time
fillers without having to pullthe perfect activity out of thin
(10:14):
air.
Emily (10:15):
There's lots of time fillers besides videos that you
might want to add to your list.Classroom games like heads up,
seven up are a classic. Youcould set aside a couple picture
books to save for those randompockets of time too.
Heidi (10:27):
I always loved Action Songs like Tooty Ta and My Aunt
Came Back. Add them all to yourlist while you're catching up on
White Lotus. And there is asheet for this in the back to
school readiness checklist ifyou need a central place to
write all your ideas down.
Emily (10:39):
There are plenty of other lists you can work on from the
couch too. This is a great timeto write down all your wins from
the year on your Ta Da list andwhat you want to improve on your
fix it list.
Heidi (10:50):
You can find blank ta da lists, fix it lists and tons of
other to do lists in our freeend of year roadmap. Since it's
set up in Google Sheets, you caneasily work on these from your
phone, and you can grab the linkto that in our show notes.
Emily (11:02):
You can also start your list for back to school
shopping. This might be stufffor yourself, your classroom or
your own kids.
Heidi (11:08):
And you can start on your parent supply list, if you
haven't already made one.
Emily (11:12):
Parents will also want your meet the teacher letter. So
you can go ahead and startdrafting that now and then, all
you have to do is tweak it whenback to school rolls around.
Heidi (11:21):
Our next suggestion is one that I have not tried
myself, but it does look like alot of fun. This is to make your
own Bitmoji. You need theBitmoji app if you want to do it
from your phone, then you caninsert your Bitmoji into your
digital classroom materials, andI'm sure the kids would get a
kick out of it.
Emily (11:37):
Oh, it's so cute. That is a perfect thing to do from your
couch. Another idea is toorganize your photos. Set up
albums on your phone forclassroom photos and anchor
chart photos, and, of course,photos of your students. When
you have to reference somethingdown the road, you'll be so
grateful that it's easy to find.
Heidi (11:53):
Well, these are our first 15 suggested TV tasks. Are you
ready for the last five? Let'sjust kiss this unpleasant frog
and get it over with. Our number16 task is to clean out your
teacher bag. I know it's theworst, but your August self, she
already has enough she doesn'twant to be doing. Don't make her
also unearth the moldy bananathat got buried in there in May.
Emily (12:15):
Yeah. And a task that's slightly less smelly is to write
thank you notes. Think how muchyour coworkers, admin, support
staff, or even really helpfulparents will appreciate the
reminder that you notice the waythey showed up.
Heidi (12:26):
Thank you notes are one of those things I always intend
to do but never get around to.So grab a clipboard and some
flare pens and plunk them on thetable next to the couch. Now,
you know you still might not getaround to writing the notes, but
you are more likely to do it ifthe supplies are handy.
Emily (12:41):
Yeah, you can make a little TV tasks caddy to keep
next to your couch. I alwayslove an excuse to make a themed
caddy, I'm not gonna lie, andthen it can have thank you notes
and pens and sticky notes andwhatever else you might need in
there. But don't forget thatemail thank you notes are still
a very thoughtful gesture. Soyou don't have to send it
through the mail to make itmeaningful.
Heidi (13:02):
Our next suggestion takes some explanation. This is to
make your plan B schedule fornon routine school days. This is
something we mention a lotaround the holidays, but it can
really help you any time ofyear.
Emily (13:14):
So obviously, most of your routine school days will
follow your routine schedule,but sometimes we have big
disruptions, like needing a subor having a two hour grade level
program practice, or it's theday before a big holiday, and
there's zero chance yourstudents will get anything
productive done. Instead of justtrying to push through on those
chaotic days, we like to make aplan B schedule.
Heidi (13:35):
This is helpful because it frees you up from having to
make a bunch of decisions in apossibly stressful moment, and
it means you can plan aheadinstead of scrambling for a
plan. The simplest way to makeyour plan B is to take your
regular schedule and automate itas much as possible. If you
normally teach science from 2 to2:30, decide once that on those
Plan B days, you're always justgoing to show a science video.
(13:58):
Even if it doesn't relate toyour current unit of study, it
still counts as science. Orinstead of your regular math
lesson, do a review packet atthat time, or get out math games
from earlier in the year, andthen just have the kids rotate
through math game stations.
Emily (14:12):
Just make sure that one of the stations that day isn't
meet with the teacher. You wantyour plan B schedule to involve
you as little as possible. Thatwill make it easier to use the
schedule for your sub plans. Youdon't want to also have to leave
small group math and phonics andreading lessons for your sub to
do.
Heidi (14:28):
No, that is just too many sub plans. Now, from your couch,
it might be a little tricky tofigure out the exact activities
that you'll have students do onthose Plan B days, but you could
still figure out your schedule.For each time block in your
regular schedule, ask yourself,What can students do
independently for this subject?And then go from there. Morning
(14:49):
work can probably stay the same.Decide once on a set morning
meeting for your plan B days,and then use the same greeting
and game every time. Figure outwhat students can do
independently for reading andmath and for the rest of the
day, and then when you need toadapt your regular routine, you
already know exactly what needsto happen.
Emily (15:07):
Our next suggestion is to prep student gifts now. So if
you put together birthday bags,get the stuff and start loading
up bags now.
Heidi (15:15):
If you want to give students a little gift at your
open house, you can also prepthose now. Check out the show
notes for a link to our cutewishing star printable. I love
this so much. You can get a bulkorder of star shaped stress
balls. Then you just print offour cute star poem and package
them all together, probably in,what, an hour or so?
Emily (15:34):
Yeah
Heidi (15:35):
And think how relieved you'll be to have that task
already managed.
Emily (15:38):
For sure. And that brings us to our last TV task, and this
is the simplest one of all,subscribe to teacher podcasts.
Now, we don't want you to listento any other podcast but us, and
if you're not already subscribedto teacher approved, hit that
button now. But you can alsotake some time to search around
for other teacher podcasts afteryou've subscribed to ours. If
(16:00):
you need some ideas,teacherpodcastrecs on Instagram
shares lots of goodrecommendations.
Heidi (16:05):
And if you like hanging out with us, you can always join
us over on the Holiday HeadstartPodcast for even more fun, even
though we don't really talkteacher stuff so much.
Emily (16:13):
Yeah, but you know, you guys have lives outside of being
teachers, too. So come talk tous about the holidays, and we
can help you make the days thatare special not the days that
make you stressed. So whew, thatis an impressive list of tasks
that you can get done from yourcouch like a boss.
Just like we mentioned earlier,because there are things you can
do in front of the TV, doesn'tmean you are expected to fill
(16:34):
your downtime with to do lists.Relaxing is productive all by
itself. You deserve to slow downand enjoy your time without
having to check things off yourlist all the time.
Heidi (16:43):
However, this stuff has to get done anyway, so you may
as well do it where you'recomfortable. Maybe instead of
thinking of TV tasks as addingwork to your relaxation time, we
should reframe it as a way toadd relaxation to your work
time.
Emily (16:59):
I love that. If you want a place to write down your own
TV task list, check out our backto school readiness checklists.
We recently added a whole bunchof new lists to that resource,
including a list for your TVtasks.
Heidi (17:11):
All 20 of these TV tasks are already typed on the list,
but if you do want to make yourown list, we will quickly run
through our suggestions again sothat you don't have to comb
through the episode to findthem.
Emily (17:21):
First, declutter your Pinterest boards or ideas you've
saved from social media. Second,organize your digital files.
Third, declutter your digitalfiles. Fourth, clean out your
email. Fifth, gather all yourpasswords in one place. Sixth,
clean up your teacher website orLMS. Seventh, find kid friendly
(17:43):
playlists. Eighth, make videoplaylists. Ninth, add ideas to
your time filler activity kit.10th, make your to da list, your
fix it list and your to do list.
Heidi (17:54):
11th, start your back to school shopping list. 12th, make
a parent supply list. 13th,write your meet the teacher
letter. 14th, design your ownBitmoji. 15th, organize your
photos. 16th, clean out thatteacher bag. 17th, write thank
you notes. 18th, make a schedulefor your plan B days. 19th, prep
(18:16):
student gifts for birthdays andback to school. And 20th,
subscribe to teacher podcasts.
Emily (18:21):
And by the time you're done with all of that, you'll
have caught up on all the goodTV that you missed during the
school year.
Heidi (18:27):
We would love to hear about your favorite TV tasks.
Come join the conversation inour Teacher Approved Facebook
group.
Emily (18:34):
Now for our Teacher Approved Tip of the Week, where
we share an actionable tip tohelp you elevate what matters
and simplify the rest. Thisweek's teacher approved tip is
to get ready to crush your backto school goals.
Heidi (18:47):
Emily and I are so excited. Mark your calendars for
our upcoming BTS Success course.The doors open June 26.
Emily (18:56):
We're working on some really fun updates to the course
this year, and we think it isgoing to be a fantastic time.
And we would love to have youjoin us in the group this year.
We will be sure to share here onthe podcast when the doors open.
Heidi (19:10):
To wrap up the show, we're sharing what we're giving
extra credit to this week.Emily, what gets your extra
credit?
Emily (19:15):
I'm giving extra credit to the Hero Cosmetics four
shield, super light sunscreen.
Heidi (19:20):
Oh, wow.
Emily (19:21):
I wear sunscreen every day, and it is especially
important in the summer. And Ilove this sunscreen because it
goes on so smooth and it isn'ttoo heavy. And also, what I
really love about it is it'ssuper affordable. I get the
tinted kind which looks superorange when you pump it out, but
it blends in really nicely onceyou put it on.
Heidi (19:40):
Oh, that's good. I don't want to end up looking orange in
a way to avoid looking red.
Emily (19:44):
Right. What are you giving extra credit to, Heidi?
Heidi (19:48):
Well, I'm giving extra credit to Seed Probiotics. It's
a subscription service thatsends you like six months of
probiotics twice a year. And Ihad to stop taking them for a
while because I was on anantibiotic. Which, I mean, I
still could have taken them, butit wouldn't have done anything.
So I was really happy to getback to it. I hadn't realized
how much I missed it. And Ireally like having the
subscription, because it means Ialways have it ready to take. In
(20:11):
the past, I have tried to behabitual about remembering to
take probiotics, but inevitably,I would run out, and then I
forget to restock, and then itwould be, you know, months and
months. So the subscriptionmakes it really easy, and I have
been really happy with theprobiotics. So yay Seed.
Emily (20:27):
Yeah, and I know they'll mail it to you monthly if you
want, but I think you get aspecial discount, if you like,
get several months at a time,like six months at a time. I
think you get a discount,because that's what I do, too.
Heidi (20:34):
I was gonna say, that must be why. Because it's like,
oh, this is a lot all at once,but it just goes in the bathroom
cabinet. It's fine.
That's it for today's episode.Write your own TV task list and
make sure you join us in our BTSSuccess course later in June.
We hope you enjoyed this episodeof Teacher Approved. I'm Heidi.
Emily (20:56):
And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow
or subscribe in your podcast appso that you never miss an
Heidi (21:02):
You can connect with us and other teachers in the
episode.
Teacher Approved Facebook group.We'll see you here next week.
Bye for now.
Emily (21:09):
Bye.
This is episode 201 of Teacher Approved.
You're listening to TeacherApproved, the podcast helping
educators elevate what mattersand simplify the rest. I'm
Heidi.
Emily (00:13):
And I'm Emily. We're the creators behind Second Story
Window, where we give researchbased and teacher approved
strategies that make teachingless stressful and more
effective. You can check out theshow notes and resources from
each episode atsecondstorywindow.net.
Heidi (00:28):
We're so glad you're tuning in today. Let's get to
the show.
Emily (00:36):
Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today's
episode, we have 20 simple tasksthat you can get done from the
comfort of your couch, and we'resharing a teacher approved tip
for creating back to schoolsuccess. But first, it's time
for try it tomorrow, a favoritequick win that you can try in
your life right away.
Heidi (00:54):
Our try it tomorrow for last week was to write your
summer no list. This is a listof all of the things that you
are not going to do in thesummer, no guilt, no working on
weekends, no redoing your classdecor. This is your to don't
list, kind of, maybe. But thisweek, our suggestion is to make
a summer yes list, or maybe yourmust do list.
Emily (01:16):
So before you get too far into your summer break, make a
short list of five things you dowant to say yes to this summer.
Think rest, fun, connection.Maybe it's yes to leaving my
phone in the other room duringdinner, or Yes to reading a book
just because I want to, or Yesto saying no without guilt.
Heidi (01:34):
Your yes list becomes a little guide post. It reminds
you that boundaries aren't justabout saying no, they're also
about saying yes to what mattersmost. Put it on your fridge or
stick it in your notes app, oryou could even take a screenshot
and make it the home screen foryour phone. Do whatever makes it
feel real and visible.
Emily (01:51):
This simple shift can help you make more intentional
choices this summer, even ifyour calendar is already filling
up.
Heidi (01:58):
If you like this idea or anything else we share here on
the podcast, would you take asecond and give us a five star
rating? Ratings and reviews areone way that new listeners find
us. So every rating and reviewreally is a huge help to us.
Emily (02:11):
Well, over the years, we have really created an extensive
library of back to schoolproducts. So to help you find
the tools that will make thestart of the new year easier,
today we are spotlighting one ofthose back to school products,
which is our back to schoolreadiness checklists, which is a
new one from last year. Heidi,can you tell us more about them?
Heidi (02:29):
Yes, I'd love to, because I love this so much. If you used
our end of year roadmap, this isthe same idea, only you know,
for the other end of the year.Instead of wrapping up, we are
launching the new year andhelping you get ready for the
most successful year yet. Sothere are lots of different
checklists to help you preparein the six areas of readiness.
(02:52):
So we have thought through somany things, and we have added a
bunch of new lists this year.It's all in Google Sheets, so
it's all editable, and you canaccess it anywhere you are. If
you're in the middle of thestore and like, oh shoot, what
did I need to get at the craftstore, you can pull it up. It's
right there. It's so handy. I'mso excited about this, and I
think teachers are gonna loveit.
Emily (03:09):
And if you don't remember from last year, the six areas of
readiness are that you need tohave your classroom ready, your
supplies ready, your proceduresready, your welcome ready, your
first day ready, and yourselfready.
Heidi (03:21):
Oh, no big deal. Easy peasy.
Emily (03:23):
No big deal. That's why we need 34 checklists to meet
all of those areas. So if youwant help staying on top of your
to do list in any of thoseareas, the back to school
readiness checklists are madefor you, and we'll put a link to
those in the show notes.
Heidi (03:39):
Okay, teacher friends. We might not know a lot about you,
but we can make a pretty safebet that you are tired right
now.
Emily (03:48):
Yeah, being a teacher in June is a lot like being a
balloon with a leak and you'rejust slowly sinking lower and
lower and lower.
Heidi (03:56):
You know what? Good for you. You deserve to spend some
time crashed on the couch orcurled up with a book. You have
spent nine months giving yourwhole self to an impossible job.
You are due for a little R andR.
Emily (04:09):
But we want to make sure we're spending this downtime
recovering and not just driftinglike that sinking balloon. So go
back to Episode 197 where webreak down the types of rest you
might need.
Heidi (04:21):
And we promise that that topic is not as dry as it
sounds, and if you listen, youwill come away with a
restorative plan for meetingyour summer needs.
Emily (04:30):
But unfortunately, just because you don't get paid for
your time off doesn't mean thereisn't work to do and that there
aren't work tasks that need yourattention.
Heidi (04:39):
So how do we manage the work tasks that are waiting for
us without losing our summerdowntime? Well, we need
boundaries.
Emily (04:47):
So check out episode 199 if you want some guidance for
how to set boundaries aroundyour summer work so that you can
get some things done withoutlosing your whole summer to back
to school prep, which is a biggoal around here.
Heidi (05:00):
One of the work boundaries that you might want
to set is around time. Setspecific times when you'll
tackle work projects and, moreimportantly, set times when you
won't. This lets you enjoysummer without guilt and without
pressure.
Emily (05:12):
Now, this won't be for everyone, but one of my favorite
times to get a little work doneis when I'm relaxing on the
couch. I want to be clear thatrest on its own is entirely
productive. You do not need tojustify taking a break by adding
work to your relaxation time.However, something I find
relaxing is knocking a task offmy to do list. So why not
(05:33):
combine the best of both worldswith doing something easy while
I take it easy.
Heidi (05:38):
We call these types of tasks TV tasks. A TV task is
anything that you can do on yourcouch without having to stress
too much. You don't need a tonof materials. You probably just
need your phone or your laptop.
Emily (05:49):
So the key to making TV task time useful is to make a
list of tasks ahead of time thatyou can do while you kick back.
Your tired self doesn't have thebrain power to create a list of
ideas and go looking forsomething to do, so you can help
that tired self out by jottingdown some ideas now.
Heidi (06:06):
So what makes a task a good TV task? Well, anything
that doesn't require too muchfocus or too many materials is
ideal. Kind of think of it likeif it's something you can do
with real housewives or survivoron in the background, you know
it's a good TV task.
Emily (06:21):
To help you kick off your own TV task list, we're sharing
20 simple ideas that might helpyou get a bit ahead without
adding to your stress. So Heidi,kick us off with our first TV
task.
Heidi (06:31):
Well, let's start by organizing our ideas. If you
have a bunch of Pinterestboards, or you have bookmarked
ideas on Instagram or Tiktok,take some time to revisit those
ideas. There's probably a fewthings there that don't interest
you anymore.
Emily (06:44):
There's probably even a few things that you can't even
remember why you saved them inthe first place. So just delete
that content now, so you canmore easily find the ideas you
do want to remember.
Heidi (06:54):
Another organization task is to organize your digital
files. If you have got stuffsaved all over the place, try
corralling that content into anested system. Maybe you have a
large file for each term, andthen within the term, you break
it down into smaller files forsubjects, and then units, weeks,
and then down to individuallessons.
Emily (07:14):
Think of it as a nesting doll situation with large
categories being broken downinto smaller groups until you
know exactly where to go to findthe content for teaching your
third geometry lesson onmeasuring angles without having
to go search for it.
Heidi (07:28):
And while you're organizing your files, go ahead
and delete anything you don'tneed anymore. If you're worried
about losing something that youmight want to reference later,
you could set up a separate filefor just in case content or I
might want this somedaymaterials.
Emily (07:42):
Since we're on the decluttering track, let's clean
out that email. You do not needto keep that reminder about
Field Day anymore. Think of itas liberating yourself from a
bunch of old expectations.
Heidi (07:53):
And how about another easy digital task? If right now
you don't want to have to make abunch of decisions from your
couch, here is just a low mentaleffort task. Gather all of your
passwords in one place. Makesure you're storing them
someplace secure but alsoaccessible. You're not going to
be very happy with yourself ifyou know down the road, you have
to track down a password to beable to find your passwords.
Emily (08:14):
Yeah, that's how I got locked out of LastPass. I swear
I have it right too. I thinkLastPass is possessed. Well,
there are five TV tasks to getyou started, but we've got
plenty more to go. If youhaven't already, definitely
check out the TV show Traders onpeacock. That is the TV part of
this TV task. The task part ismaybe a little less fun, but
(08:36):
still important. Clean up yourteacher website, your canvas or
your other learning managementsystem.
Heidi (08:42):
Yes, that is less fun than Traders and way less fun
than Alan Cumming's crazycostumes, but when your LMS is
happily decluttered, you canstart on something more
interesting, like searchingSpotify for kid friendly
playlists.
Emily (08:55):
We have a few posted on Spotify if you want a starting
point. Search for TeacherApproved, and then select
playlist. All of our playlistsstart with Teacher Approved, so
you know it's ours. We've gotkid friendly pop, quiet
background music, and even a funromance free Valentine's Day
playlist. And if there's aplaylist you'd like for your
classroom but can't findanywhere, let us know, because
(09:17):
Heidi loves to make them.
Heidi (09:19):
I really do like making playlists. I don't know what it
Emily (09:22):
Could be your side hustle?
is.
Heidi (09:23):
Yes, somebody pay me for it. I'm doing it for free these
days. But besides audioplaylists, you can make video
playlists from your couch too.You can look for videos that fit
with specific topics or funbrain break videos. You could
put together a playlist forvideos for inside recess or
something that you might want tosave for a sub.
Emily (09:43):
Yeah, it's always nice to have something engaging,
educational and low prep thatyou can leave for a sub. And
it's much easier to look forthis stuff now than when you're
doubled over with foodpoisoning. Just, you know, ask
me how I know that.
Heidi (09:54):
Oh, that's a rough one. You can also add videos to your
time filler activity kit. You.Having a bunch of activities
already picked out to fill a fewrandom minutes is a lifesaver.
When the guest speaker is lateor your math lesson ends 20
minutes early, you can easilyturn to your list of time
fillers without having to pullthe perfect activity out of thin
(10:14):
air.
Emily (10:15):
There's lots of time fillers besides videos that you
might want to add to your list.Classroom games like heads up,
seven up are a classic. Youcould set aside a couple picture
books to save for those randompockets of time too.
Heidi (10:27):
I always loved Action Songs like Tooty Ta and My Aunt
Came Back. Add them all to yourlist while you're catching up on
White Lotus. And there is asheet for this in the back to
school readiness checklist ifyou need a central place to
write all your ideas down.
Emily (10:39):
There are plenty of other lists you can work on from the
couch too. This is a great timeto write down all your wins from
the year on your Ta Da list andwhat you want to improve on your
fix it list.
Heidi (10:50):
You can find blank ta da lists, fix it lists and tons of
other to do lists in our freeend of year roadmap. Since it's
set up in Google Sheets, you caneasily work on these from your
phone, and you can grab the linkto that in our show notes.
Emily (11:02):
You can also start your list for back to school
shopping. This might be stufffor yourself, your classroom or
your own kids.
Heidi (11:08):
And you can start on your parent supply list, if you
haven't already made one.
Emily (11:12):
Parents will also want your meet the teacher letter. So
you can go ahead and startdrafting that now and then, all
you have to do is tweak it whenback to school rolls around.
Heidi (11:21):
Our next suggestion is one that I have not tried
myself, but it does look like alot of fun. This is to make your
own Bitmoji. You need theBitmoji app if you want to do it
from your phone, then you caninsert your Bitmoji into your
digital classroom materials, andI'm sure the kids would get a
kick out of it.
Emily (11:37):
Oh, it's so cute. That is a perfect thing to do from your
couch. Another idea is toorganize your photos. Set up
albums on your phone forclassroom photos and anchor
chart photos, and, of course,photos of your students. When
you have to reference somethingdown the road, you'll be so
grateful that it's easy to find.
Heidi (11:53):
Well, these are our first 15 suggested TV tasks. Are you
ready for the last five? Let'sjust kiss this unpleasant frog
and get it over with. Our number16 task is to clean out your
teacher bag. I know it's theworst, but your August self, she
already has enough she doesn'twant to be doing. Don't make her
also unearth the moldy bananathat got buried in there in May.
Emily (12:15):
Yeah. And a task that's slightly less smelly is to write
thank you notes. Think how muchyour coworkers, admin, support
staff, or even really helpfulparents will appreciate the
reminder that you notice the waythey showed up.
Heidi (12:26):
Thank you notes are one of those things I always intend
to do but never get around to.So grab a clipboard and some
flare pens and plunk them on thetable next to the couch. Now,
you know you still might not getaround to writing the notes, but
you are more likely to do it ifthe supplies are handy.
Emily (12:41):
Yeah, you can make a little TV tasks caddy to keep
next to your couch. I alwayslove an excuse to make a themed
caddy, I'm not gonna lie, andthen it can have thank you notes
and pens and sticky notes andwhatever else you might need in
there. But don't forget thatemail thank you notes are still
a very thoughtful gesture. Soyou don't have to send it
through the mail to make itmeaningful.
Heidi (13:02):
Our next suggestion takes some explanation. This is to
make your plan B schedule fornon routine school days. This is
something we mention a lotaround the holidays, but it can
really help you any time ofyear.
Emily (13:14):
So obviously, most of your routine school days will
follow your routine schedule,but sometimes we have big
disruptions, like needing a subor having a two hour grade level
program practice, or it's theday before a big holiday, and
there's zero chance yourstudents will get anything
productive done. Instead of justtrying to push through on those
chaotic days, we like to make aplan B schedule.
Heidi (13:35):
This is helpful because it frees you up from having to
make a bunch of decisions in apossibly stressful moment, and
it means you can plan aheadinstead of scrambling for a
plan. The simplest way to makeyour plan B is to take your
regular schedule and automate itas much as possible. If you
normally teach science from 2 to2:30, decide once that on those
Plan B days, you're always justgoing to show a science video.
(13:58):
Even if it doesn't relate toyour current unit of study, it
still counts as science. Orinstead of your regular math
lesson, do a review packet atthat time, or get out math games
from earlier in the year, andthen just have the kids rotate
through math game stations.
Emily (14:12):
Just make sure that one of the stations that day isn't
meet with the teacher. You wantyour plan B schedule to involve
you as little as possible. Thatwill make it easier to use the
schedule for your sub plans. Youdon't want to also have to leave
small group math and phonics andreading lessons for your sub to
do.
Heidi (14:28):
No, that is just too many sub plans. Now, from your couch,
it might be a little tricky tofigure out the exact activities
that you'll have students do onthose Plan B days, but you could
still figure out your schedule.For each time block in your
regular schedule, ask yourself,What can students do
independently for this subject?And then go from there. Morning
(14:49):
work can probably stay the same.Decide once on a set morning
meeting for your plan B days,and then use the same greeting
and game every time. Figure outwhat students can do
independently for reading andmath and for the rest of the
day, and then when you need toadapt your regular routine, you
already know exactly what needsto happen.
Emily (15:07):
Our next suggestion is to prep student gifts now. So if
you put together birthday bags,get the stuff and start loading
up bags now.
Heidi (15:15):
If you want to give students a little gift at your
open house, you can also prepthose now. Check out the show
notes for a link to our cutewishing star printable. I love
this so much. You can get a bulkorder of star shaped stress
balls. Then you just print offour cute star poem and package
them all together, probably in,what, an hour or so?
Emily (15:34):
Yeah
Heidi (15:35):
And think how relieved you'll be to have that task
already managed.
Emily (15:38):
For sure. And that brings us to our last TV task, and this
is the simplest one of all,subscribe to teacher podcasts.
Now, we don't want you to listento any other podcast but us, and
if you're not already subscribedto teacher approved, hit that
button now. But you can alsotake some time to search around
for other teacher podcasts afteryou've subscribed to ours. If
(16:00):
you need some ideas,teacherpodcastrecs on Instagram
shares lots of goodrecommendations.
Heidi (16:05):
And if you like hanging out with us, you can always join
us over on the Holiday HeadstartPodcast for even more fun, even
though we don't really talkteacher stuff so much.
Emily (16:13):
Yeah, but you know, you guys have lives outside of being
teachers, too. So come talk tous about the holidays, and we
can help you make the days thatare special not the days that
make you stressed. So whew, thatis an impressive list of tasks
that you can get done from yourcouch like a boss.
Just like we mentioned earlier,because there are things you can
do in front of the TV, doesn'tmean you are expected to fill
(16:34):
your downtime with to do lists.Relaxing is productive all by
itself. You deserve to slow downand enjoy your time without
having to check things off yourlist all the time.
Heidi (16:43):
However, this stuff has to get done anyway, so you may
as well do it where you'recomfortable. Maybe instead of
thinking of TV tasks as addingwork to your relaxation time, we
should reframe it as a way toadd relaxation to your work
time.
Emily (16:59):
I love that. If you want a place to write down your own
TV task list, check out our backto school readiness checklists.
We recently added a whole bunchof new lists to that resource,
including a list for your TVtasks.
Heidi (17:11):
All 20 of these TV tasks are already typed on the list,
but if you do want to make yourown list, we will quickly run
through our suggestions again sothat you don't have to comb
through the episode to findthem.
Emily (17:21):
First, declutter your Pinterest boards or ideas you've
saved from social media. Second,organize your digital files.
Third, declutter your digitalfiles. Fourth, clean out your
email. Fifth, gather all yourpasswords in one place. Sixth,
clean up your teacher website orLMS. Seventh, find kid friendly
(17:43):
playlists. Eighth, make videoplaylists. Ninth, add ideas to
your time filler activity kit.10th, make your to da list, your
fix it list and your to do list.
Heidi (17:54):
11th, start your back to school shopping list. 12th, make
a parent supply list. 13th,write your meet the teacher
letter. 14th, design your ownBitmoji. 15th, organize your
photos. 16th, clean out thatteacher bag. 17th, write thank
you notes. 18th, make a schedulefor your plan B days. 19th, prep
(18:16):
student gifts for birthdays andback to school. And 20th,
subscribe to teacher podcasts.
Emily (18:21):
And by the time you're done with all of that, you'll
have caught up on all the goodTV that you missed during the
school year.
Heidi (18:27):
We would love to hear about your favorite TV tasks.
Come join the conversation inour Teacher Approved Facebook
group.
Emily (18:34):
Now for our Teacher Approved Tip of the Week, where
we share an actionable tip tohelp you elevate what matters
and simplify the rest. Thisweek's teacher approved tip is
to get ready to crush your backto school goals.
Heidi (18:47):
Emily and I are so excited. Mark your calendars for
our upcoming BTS Success course.The doors open June 26.
Emily (18:56):
We're working on some really fun updates to the course
this year, and we think it isgoing to be a fantastic time.
And we would love to have youjoin us in the group this year.
We will be sure to share here onthe podcast when the doors open.
Heidi (19:10):
To wrap up the show, we're sharing what we're giving
extra credit to this week.Emily, what gets your extra
credit?
Emily (19:15):
I'm giving extra credit to the Hero Cosmetics four
shield, super light sunscreen.
Heidi (19:20):
Oh, wow.
Emily (19:21):
I wear sunscreen every day, and it is especially
important in the summer. And Ilove this sunscreen because it
goes on so smooth and it isn'ttoo heavy. And also, what I
really love about it is it'ssuper affordable. I get the
tinted kind which looks superorange when you pump it out, but
it blends in really nicely onceyou put it on.
Heidi (19:40):
Oh, that's good. I don't want to end up looking orange in
a way to avoid looking red.
Emily (19:44):
Right. What are you giving extra credit to, Heidi?
Heidi (19:48):
Well, I'm giving extra credit to Seed Probiotics. It's
a subscription service thatsends you like six months of
probiotics twice a year. And Ihad to stop taking them for a
while because I was on anantibiotic. Which, I mean, I
still could have taken them, butit wouldn't have done anything.
So I was really happy to getback to it. I hadn't realized
how much I missed it. And Ireally like having the
subscription, because it means Ialways have it ready to take. In
(20:11):
the past, I have tried to behabitual about remembering to
take probiotics, but inevitably,I would run out, and then I
forget to restock, and then itwould be, you know, months and
months. So the subscriptionmakes it really easy, and I have
been really happy with theprobiotics. So yay Seed.
Emily (20:27):
Yeah, and I know they'll mail it to you monthly if you
want, but I think you get aspecial discount, if you like,
get several months at a time,like six months at a time. I
think you get a discount,because that's what I do, too.
Heidi (20:34):
I was gonna say, that must be why. Because it's like,
oh, this is a lot all at once,but it just goes in the bathroom
cabinet. It's fine.
That's it for today's episode.Write your own TV task list and
make sure you join us in our BTSSuccess course later in June.
We hope you enjoyed this episodeof Teacher Approved. I'm Heidi.
Emily (20:56):
And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow
or subscribe in your podcast appso that you never miss an
Heidi (21:02):
You can connect with us and other teachers in the
episode.
Teacher Approved Facebook group.We'll see you here next week.
Bye for now.
Emily (21:09):
Bye.
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